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Shavarra brought her hand up to her mouth and began chewing on her nails. “I don’t know Dace,” she mumbled.
“I’m the prince,” I tutted. “Doesn’t that mean you have to do as I say?”
“What about Ryker?”
“She’s coming too, of course.”
Her mouth puckered. “Won’t that be awkward?”
“Why would it?” I stuffed my hands into my pockets, my attention averted to the wall because I knew exactly why it might be awkward.
She dropped her hand from her mouth and gave me a pointed look. “When are you leaving?”
“Soonish. I asked for enough time to finish up my affairs here. Will you come with me then? I’ve asked Ryker to come along, too.”
A couple of Nymphs wandered down the hall, heading toward the kitchen. Our conversation paused as they passed, looking at us with cheeky smiles. When we lost sight of them, Shavarra began again.“Dace, I think this is my place. Not to say that one day that won’t change, but right now I can’t leave. Not yet.”
I blinked, sure that she was playing a joke. Shavarra had always been there for me, and to think that I would leave her behind in a day…no, I didn’t like that.
“Are you sure?” I tried again, this time my throat felt dry.
“I’m sure.”
“Whenever you’re ready, Shavarra, there will always be a seat at my table for you.” I nodded, more to reassure myself than anything.
“I appreciate that.” She smiled but tried to distance herself from me. “You better get some rest before you have to put all that work in to make Mommy and Daddy happy. I’ve got to hunt a room down. I’ll likely be staying in one of the keeper's quarters at this rate.”
She was right; I needed to prep myself for everything that was going to hit the fan as soon as I made it home.
Abruptly this was feeling more and more like I had made the wrong choice. It would be good for the war efforts, I reminded myself. It was who I really was. Damn, if this didn’t feel like some sort of identity crisis.
“Fine, yes, you’re right. As usual,” I hummed, shrugging and backing away from her. “The keepers’ rooms are down that way and to the right,” I sang, pointing down the hall.“You’re welcome to stay in my room once I’ve left.”
She made a vulgar gesture and turned the way I suggested, leaving me alone. These were confusing times, but I had the feeling that everything was still going to work out in the end. I hadn’t a clue how they were going to work out, but like everything else I did, winging it typically did the trick.
I followed the hallways filled with Nymphs drifting about their business until I found my way back to my room. Pushing open the door, I turned abruptly to the figure perched on my bed. Ryker had her legs crossed under her, one of the books I had been reading on and off in my free time propped in one hand, and what looked like a muffin in the other.
With a mouth full of food she looked up. “It took you so long that I ate the muffin I brought you.”
Instantly, I wanted to run my fingers through the curls she had left loose down her back. My tongue ran over my front teeth as I suppressed the urge to laugh. “What are you doing in my humble abode?”
Quietly, I thanked the gods that I had done some version of picking up after myself. I’d even taken the time to somewhat make the bed, though I’d admit it didn’t look as good as when the servants back home did it.
“I’ve come to tell you that I’m coming with you.”
Stay calm, Dace. Keep it together.
Rubbing my palms together in front of me, I walked over to the small couch I often read at and leaned against the back so I could face her.
“I thought you might.” I ran my hand over the end table. A small envelope waited there with my name elegantly written across the front. My family's seal closed the back of it, and I looked up at Ryker, confused. “What’s this?”
She closed the book, keeping her finger in the pages to hold her spot. “Haven't a clue, it was there when I got here.”
Though I knew it was likely delivered by an assassin or the messenger who had visited, I still walked quietly to the window and tested the lock.
“Is it bad?” she asked.
Since when is anything that concerned my parents good? Apart from getting my entire fortune and reign back, of course. I turned the letter over and over in my hands, wondering if I should read it now.
